Liverpools Edge Lane redevelopment scheme faces further delay

Posted: 28/05/2012

Edge Lane is one of the main routes heading into and out of the heart of Liverpool and was redeveloped for the 2008 Capital of Culture year. However, the small retail park off Edge Lane is now also set to receive a £200 million expansion and redevelopment.

The plans for the Edge Lane retail park include expanding the area by 40% to 600,000 sq ft for shops and restaurants, providing an estimated 1,500 new jobs. There will be over 1,600 parking spaces including cycling spaces within the park which will also hold three leisure units. These proposals were approved by the Government in March 2011 but so far, the redevelopment hasn’t got off the starting blocks.

Unfortunately, this is the third delay the redeployment has experienced, missing two previous start dates. The work was initially set to begin in the summer of 2011, but the economic turndown was the blame for the delay of the four year scheme. Hopes were raised when an announcement came in November 2011 that confirmed the project would commence in February 2012, but this did not materialise.

Due to the continuous delays, the Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has arranged a meeting with the tycoon Albert Gubay whose firm, Derwent Holdings owns the retail park and is behind the plans to redevelop the site. Jo Anderson suggested purchasing the site if Derwant Holdings can not fulfil the proposals, but he remained hopeful that they will complete the redevelopment, ‘I will make it happen with Derwent Holdings or someone else because this is a crucial part of the city.’

As of yet, another start date has not been released. Do you think that the development will begin later this year, or delayed further due to the recession?